Rep Jehlen Wins

State Rep. Pat Jehlen won the Democratic primary in the Second Middlesex state senate race yesterday, defeating Joe Mackey, Michael Callahan, and Paul Casey. Via Blue Mass Group, The Somerville News reported the vote totals as:

Pat Jehlen - 7,117 (38%)
Joe Mackey - 4,984 (27%)
Michael Callahan - 4,122 (22%)
Paul Casey - 2,457 (13%)

Pat Jehlen ran as an outspoken liberal advocate who wanted to listen to her constituents. She worked very hard to campaign even in parts of the district she wasn't likely to win - and her strategy paid off, as she received 30% of the vote in the town of Winchester, the home of opponent Paul Casey. Jehlen was oustpoken throughout the campaign on the need for universal healthcare, freedom to marry for same-sex couples, and good jobs. Opponent Joe Mackey ran on a similar platform and won second place. Combining her votes with Mackey's demonstrates the power of standing up for what we believe in - the socially progressive, fiscally responsible message was the real winner last night, earning a breathtaking 65% of the vote in a swing district.

This election is sure to have an effect on politics throughout the state. In a constitutional convention starting Sept. 14, the legislature will take up an amendment to restrict the freedom to marry in Massachusetts, and another to guarantee health care to everyone in the Commonwealth. Jehlen has been an outspoken opponent of the amendment to restrict marriage rights, and a equally strong supporter of the amendment to guarantee universal healthcare. This overwhelming victory will be a signal to other legislators that it's okay to support the freedom to marry and universal health care. Moreover, the campaign for the Governor's office is heating up, and Jehlen's victory is sure to convince many Democrats that an outspoken progressive message will prevail in the gubernatorial race next year.
This victory also marks one of the most important triumphs of the progressive movement in the greater Boston area. DFA groups Progressive Democrats of Somerville and Cambridge DFA joined dozens of other progressive groups, including MassEquality, Neighbor to Neighbor and SEIU Local 509 in endorsing and working for Pat Jehlen. Jesse Gordon, a candidate for Cambridge City Council endorsed by Cambridge DFA, also provided tremendous support. Together the two DFA groups provided nearly a dozen precinct captains for the campaign on primary day, and hundreds of volunteer hours with canvassing, phonebanking, and data entry. Members of other DFA groups also pitched in, with support coming from the far-flung Pioneer Valley DFA, Acton DFA and nearby DFA-Boston. Perhaps one of the best outcomes of this campaign is that many new volunteers gained the experience needed to be effective precinct captains, poll-checkers and canvassers in future campaigns.

Thanks are due to Pat Jehlen, the tremendous staff of the Jehlen campaign, the wonderful members of PDS, Cambridge DFA and dozens of other progressive groups who were Pat's foot-soliders. A special thanks to Jim Dean and DFA, who helped raise Pat's profile among liberals throughout Massachusetts. Jim Dean himself came to Pat's headquarters this past Sunday to phone DFA members in the district. And most importantly, thanks to the voters of the Second Middlesex, who listened to our socially progressive, fiscally responsible message, talked to us, and voted for Pat in overwhelming numbers. This victory was trully a team effort.

Pat Jehlen Leads By 16%

According to a recent poll by MassEquality, State Rep. Pat Jehlen leads by 16% in the Second Middlesex state senate race.

Pat Jehlen was endorsed by Cambridge DFA, Progressive Democrats of Somerville, and Democracy for America earlier this year.
The primary is August 30, and DFA groups from around the state are working full-time to ensure her victory on Tuesday.

There will be canvassing, phonebanking, and other GOTV activities taking place right up to 8pm on Tuesday. If you can spare anytime, please visit www.patjehlen.org to sign up to volunteer. Rep. Jehlen's campaign headquarters is located on 240 Elm St. Suite B1 in Somerville.

DFA Boston would like to wish Rep Jehlen, Good Luck Tomorrow!

Local Schools Top in National Good

The Washington Monthly has for the first time released its own college rankings to mirror the U.S. News and World Report list. However, instead of the academic-elite standards of the Report, the Monthly selected criteria that measure the college's benefit to the nation, including social mobility, the amount of scientific research, the number of people going into national service. The number one university on the list is MIT; the number one college Wellesley.

What's unfortunate is how poorly some of our local powerhouses rank: Harvard (#1 in the Report) is #16. Also, as the article notes,

The National Survey of Student Engagement compiles such information as the average number of hours students at a particular school spend doing homework or meeting with professors outside of class—measures which, studies show, are highly correlated with academic achievement. Unfortunately, the vast majority of colleges and universities refuse to grant NSSE permission to release their schools' scores to the public, and legislation to force them to do so, sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), has been stifled in Congress.

Two Mayoral Debates -- Let's Have More

Menino has finally buckled and has grudgingly accepted to have two debates with his challenger, DFA Boston-endorsed Maura Hennigan.

Menino said he has approved an hour-long prime time television ''town meeting" that will air on WGBH, Channel 2. The debate will be moderated by Emily Rooney, he said, with the candidates fielding questions from the audience. He has also agreed to a debate on WBZ radio, he said. The dates have not yet been set, he said, but will be a few days after the Sept. 27 preliminary election.

Maure has called for at least four, and considering how long Menino has been in office, and how important the position is, I'd say that's reasonable. No matter what, these debates should be engaging.

Do You Have a Question for John Roberts?

In this week's edition of the Boston Phoenix, Deirdre Fulton reports on the website set up by seven female Democratic senators, that allows anyone to submit a question for Supreme Court Nominee John Roberts. The full article is below.

ASK ROBERTS
Grill Bush’s man
BY DEIRDRE FULTON

Last week, seven Democratic female senators launched a Web site — www.democrats.senate.gov/askroberts — where anyone can submit questions for Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts, whose confirmation hearings will begin September 6.

The senators are looking for questions that go beyond where the conservative Roberts stands on Roe v. Wade. They want inquiries into his positions on education, civil rights, and business practices.

"As Senators, we believe it shouldn’t only be Senators that get to ask the questions this time around," the site’s message reads.

More than 10,000 questions have been submitted since Thursday, according to the office of Maryland senator Barbara Mikulski, who spearheaded the effort.

Here is your chance to tell our senators what questions they should be asking during the confirmation hearings.

Roxbury Coalition Group Launches Voter Turnout Drive

In the July 28th edition of the Baystate Banner, reporter, Jeremy Schwab reports that members of 22 Roxbury organizations recently formed the non-profit group RoxVOTE to conduct a strategic voter mobilization drive for this fall's elections. RoxVOTE's organizers hope to increase turnout in Roxbury by at least 10% over the 2001 (the year of the last mayoral election) total and will cover every corner of the neighborhood. The full article is below.

New coalition plans thorough voter turnout drive in Roxbury
Jeremy Schwab

Voters in Roxbury flexed their political muscle last fall when they helped return Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral to office, turning out in numbers that rivaled those of Jamaica Plain, South Boston and West Roxbury.This fall, Roxbury activists hope to maintain the momentum by building on voter mobilization efforts of past years.Members of 22 Roxbury neighborhood associations, tenant groups, community development corporations and other community organizations recently formed the nonprofit RoxVOTE to conduct a strategic voter mobilization drive for this fall’s city council and mayoral elections.RoxVOTE organizers aim to increase voter turnout in Roxbury by at least 10 percent over 2001, the year of the last mayoral election.The coalition plans to mobilize voters in every corner of Roxbury, from Grove Hall to Lower Roxbury to Jackson Square. Their plan calls for different member organizations to go door-to-door in specific precincts, to provide coordinated coverage of all of Roxbury. The coalition also plans to conduct phone banking to mobilize voters as Election Day approaches.But will voters turn out in high numbers, given that there are no black candidates for mayor, no black candidates for at-large city councilor who are considered viable and no challengers for the seat occupied by District 7 City Councilor Chuck Turner?Whether black challengers are running or not, the community needs to turn out in large numbers, according to Celia Grant, RoxVOTE’s campaign field director.“There are several at-large seats up for grabs now, and to me it is not about color,” said Grant, who is a staff member at Madison Park Development Corporation, the group which came up with the idea for RoxVOTE. “The fact of the matter is these people are running and we need to get to know them in a hurry so we are not upset with some of the decisions they make.”RoxVOTE holds its campaign kickoff celebration at 6 p.m. today at Hibernian Hall in Dudley Square. Attendees will be encouraged to register to vote, enjoy live entertainment, volunteer for RoxVOTE’s campaign and fill out a list of their public policy priorities.The policy priorities will be gathered into a “community scorecard” which RoxVOTE plans to present to candidates, asking them to take positions on the issues.The coalition is planning two evenings when potential voters can meet candidates at Roxbury Community College. The first evening, scheduled for September 7, will feature candidates for at-large city council, say organizers.RoxVOTE organizers say they will soon unveil their website, www.roxvote.org, where residents can find information on political races in their districts, candidates’ positions, voter registration and election dates and into what district their address falls.RoxVOTE organizers say they aim to learn from whatever mistakes and successes they have in this year’s campaign and incorporate that knowledge into improving their approach for future get-out-the-vote efforts.High voter turnout is the key to getting the services and attention that the neighborhood needs, say coalition members.“The elected officials look at who is voting,” said Jose Barros, a community organizer at DSNI who has been sitting in on RoxVOTE meetings. “They respect the communities who vote, because they know if they come in people can vote them out if they are not doing their job.”In previous years, groups such as Dunk the Vote and the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative have conducted voter registration and mobilization drives. But there was no central organization coordinating their efforts.Thus, pockets of Roxbury saw more voter outreach while other areas saw less.“Dudley Square has a lot of organizations, so it’s already saturated with organizations doing that kind of work,” said Grant. “In other parts of Roxbury, residents don’t always get the kind of blast with people reminding them to vote. It depends often on how strong your neighborhood association is and whether they are involved in registering people to vote.”

DFA-Boston encourages evcryone to check out their website and attend their Sept 7th event.